


The Past Cannot Be Hidden

by Zebrablanket



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 08:44:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16889334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zebrablanket/pseuds/Zebrablanket
Summary: A trip to Gridania forces Akku to reveal his past to his friends.





	The Past Cannot Be Hidden

**Author's Note:**

> I think this makes a lot more sense if you read his actual backstory first, "That Rainy Day", but I don't know if it's actually required to make sense.
> 
> Also only two of these characters are mine, Akku and Jacky. The rest are my friends' characters.

The one place Akku didn’t like to travel was Gridania. He’d take it over being alone, but he just didn’t like being there. After growing up there and later disappearing without telling anyone, he was worried somebody would recognize him. He was often recognized as a Warrior of Light, but that wasn’t what bothered him. If anything it was relieving to find he was being recognized for that and not for living here a few years back. Yet still, as the group walked through the forest city, he found himself moving into the middle, hiding himself among his friends. He’d never told them where he’d come from. They didn’t even know he’d grown up in this city. The only thing they knew was that he had been living and working in the Rouges’ Guild before he’d started to train as a ninja with Zelda. Akku honestly didn’t understand why Gridania as a whole made him uncomfortable. Sure, he’d fallen out with his brother but not with anyone else. He’d soon find out what he feared about being here though.  
The group was on their way back to the airship landing after running some errands in Gridania’s markets. The day was bright, and everyone excitedly chattered about what they’d bought. Ronja swung a new axe around, terrifying random strangers who walked too close. Zelda had a new shirt, and Izabella was going on about some new chocobo barding she had in her bag. Jacky sorted through some materials she’d bought, while Alessa admired a new lance. As nervous as Akku was being here, some of the group’s good mood rubbed off on him and he found himself smiling and laughing with them. Until they entered the Carline Canopy, he’d thought the day was going well.  
Just one step into the bar and Akku’s eyes met those of someone he hadn’t seen in a long time. There sat his brother, a drink in hand, chatting away with friends. It was too late to hide within his friend group, Akku had been spotted. In that moment he was frozen. Everything he’d felt on the day he’d left came crashing into his mind. He couldn’t even hear his friends asking if he was ok, when they’d noticed him tense up and stop. Not here, not now. This was why he’d been so afraid to come to this city every time they visited, though he’d never let himself admit it.  
He didn’t want to see his brother again.  
Akku pulled himself out of his daze just in time to see his friends all suddenly put a hand on their heads as if in pain. Oh no, he knew what that meant all too well. Akku didn’t want them seeing his past. He couldn’t even tell what part they were seeing, though he had an idea. Even as this was happening, his brother stood up as if he intended to approach. Everything was going wrong, he felt like the world was collapsing on top of him. Akku wanted to disappear. He stood frozen for a few seconds before a small part of him remembered that he could disappear. And so with a puff of smoke he was gone, darting out of the building invisibly.   
The rest of the group came out of the vision they’d seen to find Akku was gone. The first thing Zelda did was lock eyes with Akku’s brother, a murderous expression on her face. Everyone else seemed to have the same idea. Zelda pulled a knife out and crossed the room in a couple strides to hold it at the man’s throat.  
"If you ever touch Akku again I'll break that Twelve's damned arm of yours.”  
Ronja moved in from the side and punched him in the face. His friends got up to do something, but the rest of the group quickly involved themselves. A brawl quickly started.  
“Shouldn’t someone try to find Akku?” Alessa asked over the fighting.  
“Kinda busy keeping everyone from dying, but you can go” Izabella called back to her, casting a spell to heal Astrid, and tossing Zelda the balance card. Anjelain stood next to her, backing her up. Alessa nodded and ran out of the bar. She’d started some basic ninja training, so she was decent at spotting other ninjas while they were hidden. Akku was at a higher level than her, and could easily remain hidden from her if he really tried but she had a feeling he was too distressed for that right now. Sure enough, a small space between buildings caught her eye. Focusing more as she approached, she could make out the shape of a Miqo’te in the shadows.  
“Akku?” Alessa asked quietly as she walked up.   
Akku didn’t say anything, but dropped the skill hiding him. He sat curled up in a ball, his face pressed against his legs.  
“You alright?” Alessa questioned him, hoping she wouldn’t scare him off again asking.  
“Yeah, I guess” Akku replied, turning to face away from her. He didn’t want her to see his tears.  
He couldn’t understand why he’d been so bothered. In the moment he’d just been terrified, all he could see in his head was the blood on the knife and on his arm. He’d never gone to a healer, and if he looked closely he could still see a scar. Yet now, away from the bar, he just felt like an idiot. Nothing had actually happened. For all he knew, his brother has wanted to apologize or something. He could hope that, but he knew he was wrong. His brother had the same drunken expression he did back then. Even if it was the same as then, why was he afraid now? He was supposed to be so much stronger now. Akku had battled literal gods, and taken out armies, but the moment he’d made eye contact he felt the exact same fear as back then. It took all of Akku’s strength not to start sobbing again in front of Alessa. She crouched next to him, wearing a sympathetic expression.  
“Look I saw what happened with the Echo, nothing is your fault” she tried to reassure him.  
“It’s not that, I know it wasn’t my fault” Akku sighed, lifting his head and staring straight ahead “I just… thought I was stronger now”  
Alessa took a long moment to think of a response.  
“You are strong, some things just can’t be handled alone”  
Akku considered her words. Maybe she was right, maybe he should have gone to his friends for guidance in the first place. All of them had survived together up to this point. All of them had their own stories and experiences, and he knew all of theirs. Yet he’d never thought they’d want to know where he came from or what he’d been through. It didn’t seem worth it to burden them with his own problems, especially when it paled in comparison to some of the things they’d been through together since. Yet for some reason this memory hit him harder than all of the death he’d seen and all of the battles he’d fought. And now that they’d seen it, would they be mad he didn’t tell them before?  
Alessa seemed to read his mind.  
“And I’m glad we heard about it, even if the method wasn’t ideal. Everyone has things they try to bury, but it seems Hydaelyn thought this one shouldn’t be hidden. I guess Hydaelyn is to blame for the brawl in the bar then too, huh” she told him, hoping to grab his attention with the last line. It worked.  
“Brawl?” Akku questioned, finally turning to face her. His face was red and tear streaked, but she finally had pulled him out of his pit of despair and gained his curiosity.   
“Zelda threatened your brother at knife point, and then Ronja punched him. Chaos ensued” Alessa explained. She worried mentioning his brother might make him upset again, but he only seemed surprised.  
“They did that because of me?” Akku asked.  
“Of course, I’d be there too if you hadn’t disappeared” she glanced at her new lance “would’ve been nice to try this out and see if it’s good for defeating Estinien, but you seemed to need some help first”  
Akku was touched. He’d never felt like anyone cared for him that much. In that moment, all he wanted to do was go back to them. So he stood up, casting aside the despair he’d been wallowing in. Alessa gave him a smile before turning to lead the way back.  
When they got there everyone was outside the bar, even the people who worked there. It was on fire. Alessa immediately shot an accusing glare at Jacky, who was arguing with some Twin Adder soldiers.  
“We needed to break up the fight!” one man shouted.  
“No you didn’t, I’m a second lieutenant in this stupid grand company and I told you to stand down! I said I’d handle it!” Jacky fired back.  
“We did, and look where that got us! The Carline Canopy is on fire!”  
“Yes I know, I knew exactly what I was doing! If the building is on fire, the fight has to stop unless everyone plans to perish!”  
“That’s why I stuck to ice spells” Jack mumbled to himself, overhearing the debate as he walked past.  
Akku couldn’t help but chuckle hearing that. Someone spotted him, and within moments everyone had run over and surrounded him.  
“Don’t worry about him, he had to be led away by the conjurers” Izabella said, referring to Akku’s brother.  
“Yah, we gave him a broken nose and some second degree burns among other injuries” Ronja added.  
“Thank you” was all Akku could manage to say.   
Normally one wouldn’t exactly thank people for lighting a building on fire and hospitalizing people, but the fire was out now and all Akku could see in it was the love his friends truly had for him. They’d seen him at his worst and stood up for him in their own chaotic way. Jacky chose this moment to rejoin them.  
“Don’t worry, they won’t arrest me. I may end up losing my rank in the company but honestly all I ever did with it was ask for free stuff anyway” she was quick to reassure them.  
“Please never do that again” Izabella told her “it took so long to heal the burns it gave everyone”  
“Yeah maybe lighting an actual table on fire wasn’t such a good idea, I forgot every building in Gridania is made entirely of wood. Didn’t realize my mistake until it spread to the floor”  
Akku laughed, and everyone was glad to see him feeling better. He found himself receiving many hugs and head rubs.  
“Come on, let’s go find somewhere else to eat until they get the airships running again” Zelda suggested.  
“I have cooking stuff with me, we can just head outside the city for a picnic” Ronja offered.  
Everyone agreed and they headed for the gate. Akku eagerly tagged along, feeling weirdly happy after all of that. A huge weight seemed to have been lifted off his shoulders. For the first time since leaving Gridania all that time ago he felt like he really belonged.


End file.
